Sat, 06/02/2001 - 00:00

Go Go zooms in the Desert

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Go Go ran six furlongs in 1:08.09, the fastest of the current Hollywood Park meeting, to record her fourth stakes win of 2001 in Saturday's $106,000 Desert Stormer Handicap.

Ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, Go Go ($4) used her customary style of stalking to leaders to win the Grade 3 Desert Stormer Handicap for fillies and mares.

Third on the backstretch, Go Go trailed Kalookan Queen to the eighth pole - through fractions of 21.78 and 44.42 - and needed the entire stretch to take command.

Sat, 06/02/2001 - 00:00

Delp makes the right call in Mass Cap

Chip Bott/Equi-Photos
Include, ridden by Jerry Bailey, received what trainer Buddy Delp called "a perfect trip" in the Mass Cap.

BOSTON, Mass. - Trainer Grover [Buddy] Delp agonized the entire afternoon over whether to scratch Include from Saturday's Grade 2 $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap after heavy morning rains left the track a sea of slop. The veteran horseman did not make his final decision to start the 118-pound highweight until less than an hour before the race, then was rewarded for his decision when Include rallied under Jerry Bailey to a four-length victory over Sir Bear and even-money favorite Broken Vow.

Bailey won the race for a record fifth time.

Sat, 06/02/2001 - 00:00

Critical Eye splashes home first at 6-5

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Scott Schwartz said that when he nominated Critical Eye to Saturday's $150,000, Sheepshead Bay Handicap he didn't care if the race was run on the turf or not. Of course, Critical Eye's chances were much greater if the race came off the grass.

Sat, 06/02/2001 - 00:00

'Erin' tries to get in a turf prep

STICKNEY, Ill. - Almost the first words out of trainer Tom Amoss's mouth Saturday morning were, "How's the weather up there?"

For the Churchill Downs-based Amoss, "up there" is Chicago, and as for the weather, it's been horrible. Low dark clouds have hovered over the city for two weeks, periodically spitting rain down through unseasonably cold air. Amoss knows. He's tried to run several turf horses at the Hawthorne meet, and nearly all have had to start on dirt when a race was taken off turf because of wet weather.

Sat, 06/02/2001 - 00:00

Dr Greenfield works, others wait

ELMONT, N.Y. - It's official. Global warming has taken effect. The weather is so off-kilter that horses preparing for the Belmont Stakes in the usually wet, soggy climes of Great Britain have it better than those in the United States, especially at Belmont, where wet weather has made trainers Todd Pletcher and John T. Ward Jr. consider moving key works for their colts.

Sat, 06/02/2001 - 00:00

Questions galore in Rosenna field

Under the Rug and Serela are a combined 16 for 26 lifetime, and both earned Beyer Speed Figures in the 90's racing in stakes company last time out.

There's just one problem. Neither Under the Rug or Serela has ever won on turf, so unless bad weather forces Monday's $75,000 Rosenna Stakes to be moved from the grass to Delaware Park's main track, handicappers will have to guess how the two most consistent runners in the field will fare on something other than their favorite surface.

Sat, 06/02/2001 - 00:00

Woodbine: Win City again

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The aptly named Win City won his third consecutive stakes Saturday at Woodbine in the $162,750 Plate Trial, an important prep for the June 24 Queen's Plate.

Win City, under Constant Montpellier, saved ground early while racing well off a lively pace in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds. Won Strike, recently supplemented to the Plate for $15,000, set fractions of 22.87 seconds and 46.88 while being stalked by Legal Heir and Brushing Bully.

Sat, 06/02/2001 - 00:00

Monmouth: Harmony Lodge romps

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Harmony Lodge easily won the $50,000 Little Silver Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Monmouth Park Saturday before a crowd of 12,285. With Eibar Coa aboard, Harmony Lodge ran the six furlongs in 1:10 over a sloppy track. It was the third straight victory on the card for Coa.

Sat, 06/02/2001 - 00:00

Hawthorne: Where's Taylor on class

STICKNEY, Ill. - Assistant trainer Hilary Pridham fretted that Where's Taylor wasn't 100 percent fit for his start Saturday in the Sun Beau Stakes at Hawthorne. He probably wasn't, but it didn't matter, as Where's Taylor's class and natural ability got him home first by three-quarters of a length in the $59,850 Sun Beau, a 1 1/16-mile turf race.

Where's Taylor, owned by Golden Racing Stable and trained by Mike Stidham, led from gate to wire under apprentice rider Zoe Cadman.

Sat, 06/02/2001 - 00:00

With Anticipation wires Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Under Jon Court, With Anticipation established a slow pace and led all the way to win the $109,900 Louisville Handicap by six lengths Saturday at Churchill Downs. He returned $6.60 as second choice in a field of six in the 1 3/8-mile turf race.

Profit Option, who trailed most of the way, rallied to be second, a half-length before Gritty Sandie. Air Rocket was fourth, while Williams News, the 3-2 favorite, finished fifth. Three Wonders finished last.

Hesiode was an early scratch.